RootsTech 2015 Registration is Open

The RootsTech 2015 "Celebrating Families" Conference is February 12-14, 2015 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake city, Utah.

You can see details at https://rootstech.org/?lang=eng:

The RootsTech 2015 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page is at  http://www.rootstech.org/About/FAQ?lang=eng

The Registration form can be found through https://registration.rootstech.org/2015/portal/newreg.ww.

The full three-day registration fee is $239,. but the Early Bird registration fee is $159.  Before 12 September, the registration fee is $139, a $20 discount from the Early Bird fee.  All pricing variations are on http://www.rootstech.org/bc/content/images/pricing_FINAL.pdf?lang=eng.

There is an Innovator's Day on Wednesday, 11 February 2015 which has a separate registration fee of $89.

The RootsTech 2015 conference will share the Expo Hall and other features with the concurrent Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) conference on the same days.  However, the FGS Conference has a separate registration fee, but RootsTech registrants can add an FGS three day registration  for an additional $39.

Keynote Speakers and Special Events have not been announced yet.  The preliminary list of session speakers and topics is at  https://rootstech.org/bc/content/pdfs/Documents/Schedules/updated_schedule.pdf?lang=eng

The official Conference Hotels are listed at https://rootstech.org/attend/hotels?lang=eng.  These tend to fill up fast, so book your hotel stay early.

I look forward to attending RootsTech 2015 - I missed the first one in 2011 but have enjoyed attending them since then.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/09/rootstech-2015-registration-is-open.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Aunt Marion -- Post 323 for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I am posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they aren't "Wordless" - I am incapable of having a wordless post!

Here is a photograph from the Seaver/Carringer family photograph collection from my 40 years of photo albums, boxes and piles of family photographs:

This photograph is of Marion Frances (Seaver) (Braithwaite) Hemphill (1901-2000), my father's oldest sister, one of my aunts who contributed so much to my knowledge of the Seaver family.

This photograph was taken in 1999, probably by her daughter, Nancy, in Clinton, South Carolina.  

Some of the family photographs that I have used on Wordless Wednesday over the years were from Aunt Marion's photo album, which Nancy kindly sent me after her death.  There were previously unseen photos of my Seaver family, but also of other related families.  

Aunt Marion was a teacher in the 1940s and 1950s in central Massachusetts, and one of the products of her career was a Seaver genealogy typescript, apparently created from the Westminster, Massachusetts town history book and family information.  This was a big help to me when I started doing genealogical research.

Marion visited San Diego several times in the 1970s and early 1980s to see her brother and our family.  I took the opportunity in 1982 to sit down with her with my cassette tape recorder and asked her questions about the family.  I eventually transcribed the tape and shared some of her observations and commentary with the extended family in my family newsletter.  Linda and I visited Marion once in Clinton, South Carolina, in 1999 (I think!).  She was in a care facility then, but was still as spunky and sharp as ever.  We had a great time, and we got to meet Nancy and her husband for the first time.

It struck me as I was writing this post that Marion lived in every year of the 20th century.  She missed the first 312 days (born on 9 November 1901) and the last 300 days of 2000 (died 6 March 2000), but she lived the 35,912 days in between.  Think about the progress she saw in transportation (horse and buggy to airplanes and spaceships), communication (newspaper and telephones to radio, television and the Internet), and household conveniences (indoor plumbing, electricity, air conditioning, washing machines, microwave ovens, etc.).

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/09/aunt-marion-post-323-for-not-so.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Mining the Essex County, Massachusetts Probate Records on AmericanAncestors.org

During an extended period of non-sleep last night, I realized that I had not checked for all possible ancestors who died in Essex County, Massachusetts.  I recalled that I had done one group of ancestors (the Rayment-Norman-Flint-Maverick group), but had not done the other three groups of ancestors that died in Essex County, Massachusetts.

The Essex County, Massachusetts Probate File Papers, 1638-1881 are searchable and available in image format from the New England Historical and Genealogical Society website, www.AmericanAncestors.org, which is a membership/subscription site.  I have a paid annual subscription, and the website has a wealth of information on my ancestral families.

Here is how I "mine" these probate records, and save them to my computer file folders, and eventually attach them to persons in my genealogy database:

1)  On the AmericanAncestors.org website, I entered an ancestor's name in the name fields, and selected the Essex County Probate Papers in the Database field:

I clicked the search button, and saw that there were 4 results, including the Thomas Carter whose probate record is dated 1676:

Thomas Carter's 1676 probate record is Case No. 4796, and there are six images for his file papers.

2)  I clicked on the "View" link for the Thomas Carter record for 1676, and saw the top of the first image:

Further down the screen, below the image window, is an icon to Download/Save the Original image of the page shown.

After downloading the first image, I advanced to the "Next" page and downloaded the second image, etc., until I had downloaded all six images.

When these images downloaded, they had a file name of 4796-1 through 4796-6.

3)  Here are the files in my downloads folder at the top of the list:

My standard file naming convention for these records is
PersonName-Year-RecordType-PlaceName-FileNumber-ImageNumber.

In this case, the file name of the first image is:

ThomasCarter-1696-ProbateRecord-EssexCoMA-4796-1.jpg.

Here are the standardized file names in the Downloads file folder:

4)  The next step is to "Cut" the files for one person, and then "Paste" them to the file folder for the Person.

5)  Then I will transcribe the will, and summarize the other papers in the probate case file, and add that to the person Note for Thomas Carter in my RootsMagic database.  Finally, I will add a Probate event in RootsMagic and attach a Media item for the will, and perhaps other papers, to the person and tag the events with the Media items.

6)  I've downloaded ten probate files so far today, renamed them, and need to get to work summarizing and transcribing them.  Then I need to go through the other two segments of my ancestry that may have Essex County probate records.

7)  If you have early Essex County, Massachusetts ancestors, there may be probate file papers for your ancestors in this record collection on www.AmericanAncestors.org.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/09/mining-essex-county-massachusetts.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Technology Tuesday -- Updated Ancestry.com Mobile App

Ancestry.com recently updated its mobile app for iPad, iPod and iPhone - you can read the press release in Ancestry.com Mobile App Has New Features.  I don't know when they will update the mobile app for Android and Windows 8.  The mobile app is FREE from the App Store on the iOS products, and from Google Play for Android products.

The mobile app links to a selected Ancestry Member Tree on Ancestry.com submitted by the user.  The app can view most of the information submitted to the Ancestry Member Tree, including media items and events.  However, source citations and Fact notes are not shown.  Hints are offered, and the user can search Ancestry.com for more information.

Here are some screens from the Ancestry.com mobile app on my iPhone 5s:

1)  The "Name List Tree" view with all persons in the Ancestry Member Tree, listed alphabetically by last name.

Note the icons across the top.  They include:

*  Recently searched persons.
*  Portrait tree view
*  Pedigree tree view
*  Name List tree view:

There are also icons across the bottom for:

*  Hints
*  Comments
*  Tree
*  DNA
*  Settings

Tapping on a name will bring up their profile (see below).

2)  The "Portrait Tree" view (in landscape mode) shows direct line ancestors and siblings and children of the highlighted person. 

 I can swipe up and down, or right and left, to see more ancestors in the tree.  Tapping on the name of a person will bring up their profile.

3)  The "Pedigree Tree" view includes only direct line ancestors and children of the highlighted person (shown in landscape mode).

 I can swipe up and down, or right and left, to see more ancestors in the tree.  Tapping on the name of a person will bring up their profile.

4)  I tapped on Lyle L Carringer on the screen above, and saw his profile:

Scrolling down, I see the person Note at the bottom of the "Timeline" view:

I can tap the "Note" area and edit the person Note.

Note that there is a link for "Hints" below his name and vital data.  A timeline follows with events from Birth to Death (and beyond).

Down at the bottom of the screen are three buttons.  The "Timeline" view is shown on the screen above.  The "Family" and "Gallery" buttons will be shown below.

5)  I tapped on the "Birth" Fact on the Timeline above, and it told me that there was a Gallery with 8 sources for this "Birth" Fact:

I can "Edit" or "Delete" the Fact by tapping the "Fact" button on the screen above.  I saw no way to view the Fact Notes.

6)  I tapped on the button for "Gallery with 8 Sources" and saw thumbnail images of the sources:

6)  If I tap on one of the thumbnails, then I can see the indexed Record Details for that source:

I don't see a way to see a source citation for this source - only the record image.

7)  If I tap on the green square in the middle of the image above, I can see the record image, if one is available.  I can expand the view to zoom in on the image detail:

I will have to swish right and left, and up and down, in order to see all of the information on the page.

8)  The "Family" View for the person (button at bottom of screen) shows Parents, Spouse(s) and Children of the person:

9)  The "Gallery" View for the person shows a thumbnail of each record attached to the Tree for this person:

If I tap on an image in the Gallery, I can zoom in to see more detail, or Edit Photo, Share Photo, or Delete Photo" by tapping the "Photo Details" button, or I can Comment on the image.

10)  I haven't shown the Record Hints or the Searching of the Ancestry.com databases yet.  i'll do that in a subsequent post.

11)  With this mobile app, I can access my Ancestry Member Tree anywhere that I have an Internet connection through my iPhone, iPad or iPod.  I can see Hints, add them to a person profile, or ignore them.  I can search Ancestry.com for more information about the person.  This is truly my family tree in my pocket.

However, I can't see everything in the Ancestry Member Tree, which is unfortunate.  Perhaps source citations and fact notes will be added in future updates.

This is a very powerful tool.  If you invite your family members to be guests or editors to your Ancestry Member Tree, then they can download the FREE Ancestry.com mobile app and have your family tree (with their ancestors) in their pocket also!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/09/technology-tuesday-updated-ancestrycom.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Labor Day - "There are things that happen in a second that take a lifetime to explain"

It's Labor Day, and I thought somebody (my readers? my kids? my friends?) might be interested in my job history. It is really a short list over a long period of time!

1) My first job was as a newspaper delivery person - a paper boy. I was 11 when my friend Gordon McLennan and I got a route for the twice-weekly San Diego Independent newspaper. Our route was between 32nd Street and 34th Street, and Juniper Street to Laurel Street, in the North Park area of San Diego. We held this job for about six months, delivering papers on Thursday and Sunday mornings to subscribers, using bicycles and flexies (Flexible Flyers, not a sled, but with wheels and steering bar) to throw them on porches. The highlight each month was collecting the subscription fees from the subscribers - we got stiffed a lot for what they considered a throw-away newspaper.

2) My second job was an extension of the first - my brother and I had a San Diego Independent newspaper route for about five years, but closer to home (28th Street to Fern Street, Date Street to Fir Street, 10 blocks, about 100 addresses). We got really good at doing this job through experience, got to know our customers, and made some pocket money. The customer that I remember is old Mr. Stoddard, who lived on Dale Street. He had his buddies over to play cards regularly, and when we came to collect, he would ask us in to show off what we learned. He actually paid us 25 cents or 50 cents each month to learn something new - the State Capitals, the National Parks, say the alphabet backwards, etc.

3) I wrote about my first "real" regular paying job in the summer of 1963 with the San Diego Chargers in http://www.geneamusings.com/2007/10/my-first-real-job.html.

4) After three years at San Diego State University studying aerospace engineering, I got my first real "professional" job with Wagner Aircraft in San Diego in the summer of 1964 - I spent about three months there. This was a spinoff company (from Convair) trying to build a 25-seat commuter propeller-driven aircraft designed for small airfields. The innovative feature was a boundary layer control system that would permit takeoffs and landings at 60 miles/hour. I worked as an analyst doing aerodynamics analysis (performance, stability and control, etc.) with several veteran  aerodynamicists, including Bob Gusky, who would play a big role in my life a few years later.  This was an excellent basic job education and networking experience.

5) I went back to college (San Diego State University) in September 1964, and Wagner Aircraft folded before the summer of 1965. However, Sunrise Aircraft was formed with new investors and Fred Wagner at the helm, but with few of the Wagner Aircraft employees, and none of the aerodynamicists. I got a summer job there for 1965, doing essentially the same things I had done at Wagner in 1964. Larry F. was the only aerodynamicist at the time and he was happy to have someone help out. I stayed on as a part-time employee in late 1965, and then came on full-time in January 1966 after graduating from SDSU. In addition to the aerodynamics work, I picked up some of the Boundary Layer Control (BLC) work and traveled to Cambridge Mass. twice for model tests and technical discussions with DynaTech, a technical services company. In the end, I wrote a NASA Contractor's Report with the DynaTech people. Unfortunately, Sunrise Aircraft couldn't meet payroll in March 1967, and I kept working there for essentially promises (which never came about) until September.  Another excellent experience, more responsibility, and some travel.  Also - a lesson learned!

This was the first real crisis in my life - I had my own apartment, was living the good life, but now had to move back in with my parents and borrow money from the bank. I applied for unemployment, started a job search, had several interviews, and finally accepted a job in Thousand Oaks Calif. with Northrop Ventura as an aerodynamicist. I was going to start on Monday, 24 October 1967. My plan was to live a month in a cheap motel, eat on my credit card, pay the bills with my first paychecks, and then get an apartment there.

My father had worked at Rohr Corporation in Chula Vista in the 1940's, and still had some contacts there in management, to whom he had given my resume. Bob Gusky was at Rohr then, and my resume passed his desk and he asked the employment folks to set up an interview. Gil from Employment called on Friday morning, 21 October, and asked if I could come down the next week for an interview. I explained that I was starting at Northrop Ventura on Monday - could we do an interview on that Friday afternoon? The answer was yes - I put on my only suit and tie, drove down to Chula Vista (8 miles), interviewed, and was offered the job on the spot.  This is my first "There are things that happen in a second that take a lifetime to explain" moment.

6) I worked at Rohr Corporation (later Rohr Industries, Rohr Inc., and then Aerostructures Group of Goodrich, now a part of United Technologies) from October 1967 until I retired in August 2002, starting as an Aerodynamicist, then a Senior Aerodynamicist, an Aero/Thermo Group Engineer, Chief of Aerodynamics, Chief of Aero/Thermo and finally as a Senior Staff Engineer. I became an expert in nacelle aerodynamics; turbofan engine performance; thrust reverser design, performance and testing; fluid dynamics; aircraft performance; boundary layers; and FORTRAN programming. I worked on most of the commercial aircraft built by Boeing, McDonnell Douglas and Airbus, and traveled all over the USA and Europe. It was a great 35-year career in a good company.

7) After being retired for two years, I went back to Goodrich Aerostructures in August 2004 for two years as a Contract Engineer, working on the Boeing 787 nacelle design and analysis (shown above, the engine inlets, clowls, thrust reversers, nozzles, etc.).

8)  Genealogy research and Genea-blogging!  After the 2002 retirement, I joined the Board of Directors of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society and have served as Treasurer, First Vice-President - Programs, President, Research Chairman and Newsletter Editor (the last two are my present positions).  I started writing Genea-Musings in April 2006.  This "job" includes writing, speaking, attending conferences, consulting with genealogy companies, meeting lots of other enthusiastic and committed researchers and bloggers, etc.  I've never had so much fun!  

One of my favorite sayings is "There are things that happen in a second that take a lifetime to explain." This is certainly true for me - with my job search in 1967, meeting my wife in 1968, reading Roots in 1987, and starting to blog in 2006. 

What would my life have been like if Rohr had not called me on Friday, 21 October 1967? I really don't know. I would have worked in Thousand Oaks, perhaps met and married a woman near there, or perhaps moved on to Seattle, Long Beach, or some other aerospace center.  Would my daughters and grandchildren be as smart and beautiful as mine are?  Would I still be in my home town enjoying my family and friends?  Would I have become interested in genealogy in 1987 if my life course had been different?   Who knows!

The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/09/labor-day-there-are-things-that-happen.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Post 233: More Papers in 1929 Devier J. Smith Probate File in Red Willow County, Nebraska

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday."  John offers this definition for "amanuensis:" 

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

The subject today is a 1929 order of a hearing, a publisher's affidavit and the published Notice of Hearing to define heirship of the estate of Devier J. Smith in Red Willow County, Nebraska:

The transcription of the "Order of Hearing" document (typed portions underlined, handwritten portions in italics):

01 IN THE COUNTY COURT OF   Red Willow   COUNTY, NEBRASKA.

02 In the Matter of the Estate of  }   ORDER OF HEARING

03    Devier J. Smith   , Deceased }

04 Now on this    25th   day of   November,     A.D. 19 29  , upon reading 

05 and filing the petition of       John E. Kelley        

06 for determination of heirship in the above entitled matter, it is ordered that the    30th   day of

07    December,     A.D. 19 29  , at   10   o'clock   A.  M. be assigned for hearing said

08 petition, when all persons interested in said matter may appear at said county Court and show cause why the

09 prayer of said petitioner should not be granted, and that notice of the pendency of said petition and the hearing

10 thereon, be given by publication in the   McCook Republican    for three weeks prior to said day

of hearing.

11                                                                           A. L. Zink                     

12                                                                             County Judge

The transcription of the "Publisher's Affidavit" document (typed portions underlined, handwritten portions in italics):

01 STATE OF NEBRASKA     }         Jan. 2

02 Red Willow County            } SS

03                                                       A.L. Zink

04     C W Barnes            , being duly sworn

05 deposes and says that he is the    publisher    of

06                    THE McCOOK REPUBLICAN

07 a legal newspaper published weekly at McCook, Red

08 Willow County, Nebraska; and of general circulation in

09 said county; that said newspaper, at the time of the 

10 publication of the attached notice had a bona fide cir-

11 culation of not less than three hundred copies each week,

12 and had been published within said county for fifty-two

13 consecutive weeks prior to the beginning of the publica-

14 tion of the attached notice.   Affiant further says that a

15 notice, of which the attached is a true copy, was pub-

16 lished in the regular and entire issue of said newspaper,

17 and not in supplement, on the following dates:

18 Friday,     November 29    , 19 29 

19 Friday,     December 6      , 19 29 

20 Friday,     December 13    , 19 29 

21 Subscribed in my presence and sworn to me

22 this  16th  day of   December    , 19 29 

23                     H R McCormick    

24                              Notary Public

25 Publsiher's Fee    $    10.40    

26     Recd payment from J. E. Kelley

27                           C W Barnes

The transcription of the "Notice of Hearing" document (typed portions underlined, handwritten portions in italics):

01 First Publication Nov. 29, 1929

02 Last Pub.   Dec. 14, 1929      t3

03 NOTICE OF HEARING

04 Estate No. 1992 of Devier J. Smith

05 Deceased, in the County Court of

06 Red Willow County, Nebraska.

07    The State of Nevraska, To all

08 persons interested in said estate,

09 creditors and heirs take notice, that 

10 John E. Kelley has filed his petition

11 alleging that Devier J. Smith died in-

12 testate in McCook, Nebraska, on or

13 about December 24, 1900, being a

14 resident and inhabitant of Red Wil-

15 low County, Nebraska, and the own-

16 er of the following described real 

17 estate, to-wit:  Lot Seven (7), in

18 block Thirty (30), Original Town of

19 McCook, Nebraska, (having received

20 title as D.J. Smith) leaving as his 

21 sole and only heirs at law the fol-

22 lowing named persons, to-wit:  Abbie

23 A. Smith, his widow; David D. Smith, 

24 a son;  Matie Chenery and Della A.

25 Carringer, daughters; and praying  

26 for a decree barring claims; that no 

27 application for administration has

28 been made and the estate of said de-

29 cedent has not been administered in

30 the State of Nebraska, and that the 

31 heirs at law of said decendent as

32 herein set forth shall be decreed to

33 be the owners in fee simple of the

34 above described real estate, which 

35 has been set for hearing on the 30th

36 day of December, A.D. 1929.

37      Dated at McCook, Nebraska, this 

38 25th day of November, A.D. 1929.

39 (SEAL)                 A.L. Zink

40                             County Judge

41 JOHN E. KELLEY, Attorney

A source citation for these documents is:

Order of Hearing, Publisher's Affidavit and Notice of Hearing, by John E. Kelley, 25 November 1929, Estate of Devier J. Smith file folder No. 1992, Red Willow County, Nebraska, Probate Court, McCook, Nebraska (accessed 11 July 2014 by Chris Christensen).

The first paper in this probate file was displayed and transcribed in Amanuensis Monday - Post 230: 1929 Petition for Determination of Heirship of Devier J. Smith Estate (posted 11 August 2014).  I also explained the "back story," how I obtained images of this probate file, and Devier J. Smith's relationships in the first blog post.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/09/amanuensis-monday-post-233-more-papers.html

copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

FGS 2014 Conference Blog Compendium

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) 2014 Conference is underway in San Antonio, Texas.  I am not there because of family matters.

However, I will try to keep this blog compendium up-to-date over the next week or two as geneabloggers post their news, photos, experiences, etc.  I look forward to hearing what happens in the class sessions, the exhibit hall, around conference tables, in meetings, and in the bars and restaurants.

1)  Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog:

*  Gone to Texas (26 August 2014)
*  Texas Tidbits Day 1 (27 August 2014)
*  Texas Tidbits Day 2 (28 August 2014)
*  We Did It! (30 August 2014)

2)  Sandra Crowley on the FGS Conference Blog:

*  FGS 2014 Conference Getting Set to Start (26 August 2014)
*  Stay Up to Date with the FGS app (26 August 2014)
*  FGS 2014 Off to a Great Start - Wednesday (27 August 2014)
*  Thank You Volunteers and Sponsors (29 August 2014)
*  Visit FGS' New Booth in the Exhibit Hall (29 August 2014)

3)  Amy Coffin on the We Tree Genealogy Blog:

*  Greetings From San Antonio for #FGS2014 (25 August 2014)
*  Librarians' Day Re-cap at FGS2014 (26 August 2014)
*  FamilySearch Media Dinner Re-cap for FGS2014 (26 August 2014)

4)  Cari Taplin on the Genealogy Pants blog:

*  Going, Gone to Texas (26 August 2014)
*  Four Favorite Features of FGS 2014 (7 September 2014)

5)  Janet Hovorka on The Chart Chick blog:

*  Report from the FamilySearch Blogger Dinner Part I (27 August 2014)
*  FamilySearch Blogger Dinner, Part II (27 August 2014)
*  Thank You, San Antonio! (4 September 2014)

6)  Mr. AI on The Ancestry Insider blog:

*  #FGS2014 Conference FamilySearch Media Dinner (27 August 2014)
*  #FGS2014 #FamilySearch Free Presentations (28 August 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Free Outside the Box Genealogy Presentations (28 August 2014)
*  #FGS2014 #Ancestry.com Free Presentations (28 August 2014)
*  #FGS2014 #Genealogy Conference Free Presentations on Main Stage (28 August 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Conference for Free (28 August 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Conference: Riders on the Orphan Train (29 August 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Conference: Finding Female Ancestors (29 August 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Focus on Societies: Strong Business Strategy (30 August 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Conference: Autosomal DNA (1 September 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Conference: AncestryDNA Ethnicity Reports (2 September 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Conference: AncestryDNA Matches (3 September 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Conference: Person Search vs. Record Search (4 September 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Conference: FamilySearch Search Features (5 September 2014)
*  #FGS2014 Conference: FamilySearch Record Hints (8 September 2014)

7)  Thomas MacEntee on the GeneaBloggers blog:

*  GeneaBloggers at FGS 2014 Conference in San Antonio This Week (27 August 2014)

8)  Donna Peterson on the Hanging From the Family Tree blog:

*  FGS2014 - Society Day (27 August 2014)
*  FGS2014 - Day 2 (28 August 2014)
*  Gone to Texas - FGS2014 Day 3 (29 August 2014)
*  The Final Day - FGS2014 (31 August 2014)

9)  Jordan Jones on the GenealogyMedia.com blog:

*  FGS 2014 (31 August 2014)

10)  Jen Baldwin on the Preserve the Pensions Blog:

*  FGS2014 Celebrity Fun Walk Success (3 September 2014)

11)  Juliana Smith on the Ancestry.com Blog:

*  FGS 2014 Recap: Highlights From the Alamo City (3 September 2014)

12)  Amy Johnson Crow on the Ancestry.com Blog:

*  Preserve the Pensions: An Update From FGS 2014 (4 September 2014)

13)  Lisa Smallest Leaf on the 100 Years in America blog:

*  So I'm From Texas ... (Smallest Leaf's Take on FGS 2014) (4 September 2014)

14)  Amanda (the Librarian) Pape on the Abt Unk blog:

*  Thankful Thursday: Report of #FGS2014 in San Antonio (4 September 2014)

I will update this post frequently, and try to keep it at the top of Genea-Musings stack, for at least the next week.  Check back often!

If you have written an FGS related post, and I've missed it, please comment on this post and I'll add it to the list.

Last updated:  9 a.m. 8 September 2014

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/fgs-2014-conference-blog-compendium.html

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 24 to 30 August 2014

Hundreds of genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for daily blog prompts or meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:

*  10 Tips to Revive and Refocus Your Family History Research by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.  Lynn has excellent suggestions.

*  Researching Elusive People by Elizabeth Shown Mills on the Evidence Explained QuickTips blog.  Wise words from ESM.

*  Exciting New Feature in FamilySearch Catalog by Jenny Lanctot on the Are My Roots Showing? blog.  Jenny finds a very useful feature!

*  Interview With "Who Do You Think You Are?" Producer Dan Bucatinsky by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.  Diane summarizes main points from an audio interview.

*  Standardizing Sources and Citation Templates by Louis Kessler on  Louis Kessler's Behold Blog.  Louis has a FHISO proposal to deal with source citations.  Bravo!

*  How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? by Jill Ball on the Geniaus blog.  Jill's husband, Mr. Geniaus (not a genealogist!),  attacked a genealogy problem and solved it!

*  Comments From the Vendors -- The Future of Genealogy Conferences by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  This is unfortunate, but predictable, and probably unavoidable.

*  The Game of the Name by Tony Proctor on the Parallax View blog.  Tony reviews how name structure varies by country and culture - how should genealogy deal with this?

*  Slides From How to Reveal  Your Female Ancestor's Story on Ancestry.com by Anne Gillespie Mitchell on the Finding Forgotten Stories blog.  Anne shares her presentation slides - there are three good examples of excellent research here.

*  Death of a Stranger Solves a Family Mystery 103 Years Later by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  What an interesting research story.  Sometimes a hunch pays off, and help from family and colleagues does too!

*  Serendipity. Or Thanks, Dad. by Debbie Mascot on the Mascot Manor Genealogy blog.  I think it was...

These genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week:

*  WikiChicks Whaddya Miss? Tuesday August 26, 2014 by Gena Philibert-Ortega on the WikiChicks blog.

*  Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for August 29, 2014 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Follow Friday - My Favorites From the Last Week (Or So...) by Christopher Shaw on the Diggin' For Family blog.

*  What We Are Reading: August 29th Edition by Amy Johnson Crow on the Ancestry.com Blog.

*  This Week's Creme de la Creme by Gail Dever on the Genealogy a la Carte blog.

*  Saturday Serendipity (August 30, 2014) by John D. Tew on the Filiopietism Prism blog.

*  FGS 2014 Conference Blog Compendium on the Genea-Musings blog.

Readers are encouraged to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Feedly, another RSS feed, or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I am currently reading posts from over 1540 genealogy bloggers using Feedly, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/best-of-genea-blogs-24-to-30-august-2014.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Sarah LNU's Are in Your Genealogy Database?

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music):

1)  I have many females in my family tree database without a last name.  One of those female first names is "Sarah."  Do you have situations like this, where you don't know the surname of some females? [I call them LNU persons - Last Name Unknown.]

2) How many "Sarah" persons without a surname do you have in your genealogy database?  How many of them are your ancestor?  

3)  If you have one that is your ancestor, have you looked recently to determine if there are more records online that might lead you to her surname?  Go look for one - you might be surprised!

4)  Tell us about your Sarah LNU ancestors with no surname.  Perhaps someone will read it and help you out!

5)  Share your information in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook or Google+.

6)  NOTE:  If you don't have any "Sarah" persons without a surname, then pick another female first name.

Here's mine:

I have the following "Sarah" persons with no surname in my genealogy database (over 43,000 persons):

*  77 that have just the first name "Sarah."
*  Of those, 14 are my ancestors.  All of them were born before 1700.

Here are three that might be solvable with a little help:

1)  Sarah LNU (1605-1650), who married William Worcester (1595-1662) in about 1628 in Buckinghamshire (?), England.  They migrated to Salisbury, Massachusetts and had 13 children.

2)  Sarah LNU (1611-16781), who married (1) Robert Keyes (1604-1647) in about 1630, immigrated to Watertown, Massachusetts and had 8 children; married (2) John Gage (1606-1672) in 1658 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and resided in Newbury, Massachusetts.

3)  Sarah LNU (1644-1693), who married Thomas Horton (1638-1716) in about 1668, resided in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and had 6 children.

For these three Sarah LNUs, I looked on Ancestry Member Trees using the spouse's name, and did not find any real help.  There are too many entries and they are not ordered in any rational way.

I also looked on the FamilySearch Family Tree and found:

*  Sarah (LNU) Worcester (1600-1650), wife of William Worcester (1595-1662) of Salisbury, is listed as Sarah Brown, with parents Samuel Brown and Susanna Bates.  This is a possibility, I need to investigate it further.  There are other entries in FSFT for this William Worcester, and several say the wife is Sarah Brown, and several others say Sarah Blake.  

*  Sarah LNU (1611-1681), who married (1) Robert Keyes (1604-1647), of Watertown and Newbury - there is one entry with her surnamel isted as Allen, but without any sources or parents listed.

*  Sarah (LNU) Horton (1644-1693), wife of Thomas Horton (1638-1716) has no strong matches with a surname.

So my little foray into online trees was not too productive.  I will follow up on the wife of William Worcester.  I really need an authoritative NEHGR article or surname book entry that sources an English parish register or a father's will or land deed to provide some evidence besides a family tree entry.

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver